I am a new addition to TeaChat. I joined with a bit of technical difficulty, but Ilya and LavenderPekoe helped me, and here I am. Thank you, Ilya and LavenderPekoe!

I grew up on strong black Russian tea, and that was nearly all we drank back then. I emigrated to US 20 years ago and found no good tea to drink in those wonderful grocery stores. So I drank Twinnings tea bags and felt sorry for myself. But, I thought, if no good tea is the price of freedom, I am willing to pay it.

A few months ago a friend invited me for real tea, and I learned that quality tea can be found online! I don’t have to drink bad tea to pay for freedom!

I have now a collection of about 10 loose leaf blacks, 2 tetsubins, bone china cups and an order of 8 samples coming from Adagio. I have a curious eye cast towards greens and matcha. You know how it goes.